HUNTING A PSYCHOPATH New Book release

[slumbergirl]

Another incident Shelby writes about is noticing a strange young male walking in a deserted lot near one of the neighborhoods where a rape had occurred. Shelby makes a u-turn in his squad car in order to follow the strange male, but, by then, the male had disappeared. Shelby drives around the block and cuts back through the deserted lot. The male is there - walking - and does not react to the appearance of a squad car. Right at that moment, Shelby gets a call to help serve a search warrant on an EAR suspect, so he drives off without investigating the strange male. He says this particular male has always bothered him.

Compare that to this "close call", as described by the convicted East Coast Rapist, Aaron Thomas:

“He said he had the urge and went down to Prince William because he knew the area,” said Burke, the county police sergeant. Claiming that there was no real planning, Thomas said he forced the girls into a wooded area because it was close by. He led them down a steep slope, ordered them to line up and then told them to lie down on the soggy leaves. The teenagers would later testify that they were terrified, believing that the gun in their backs was real and that their attacker would kill them if they tried to run. “I was praying,” one victim said. “I thought that was it. I thought I was going to die.”

After one of the girls deftly used her smartphone to text family and friends and ultimately call 911 without the attacker noticing, police began to swarm the area. “I heard a whole lot of footsteps,” Thomas said, “then I ran.”

Thomas went straight through the woods, tossing the gun lighter aside and circling back to the parking lot. He said he calmly walked up to the Chrysler. "Police were right beside me,” Thomas said, parked all around him. “I just got in the car and backed out.”

He drove back to Hicks’s apartment and went to sleep. In the days that followed, Hicks said, Thomas was paranoid. He would look out the windshield and up into the sky, searching for helicopters. He was on edge.

[4ws]

The book is now on kindle!!!

[Deleted]

Nov 4, 2014 15:58:36 GMT slumbergirl said:

Another incident Shelby writes about is noticing a strange young male walking in a deserted lot near one of the neighborhoods where a rape had occurred. Shelby makes a u-turn in his squad car in order to follow the strange male, but, by then, the male had disappeared. Shelby drives around the block and cuts back through the deserted lot. The male is there - walking - and does not react to the appearance of a squad car. Right at that moment, Shelby gets a call to help serve a search warrant on an EAR suspect, so he drives off without investigating the strange male. He says this particular male has always bothered him.

 

I was left with a few dangling questions after reading Shelby's book, and this was one of them.  EAR was already a notorious serial offender at this point, so why not just stop him?  I know that search warrants are time sensitive, but I don't understand why he couldn't just put the lights on and check this guy out.  If he runs, then you call in support; if he doesn't, make sure you're in a position to protect and respond to an attack. 

Another instance was blaming the dogs for not detecting anything in the dump truck trailer.  Maybe he wasn't there, but the dogs at least led them to the spot, why not inspect the most conspicuous hiding place at the end of the trail.

The other was the "pencil-neck" geek checking out the girl playing in the street.  He went by twice, so just act already.

[slumbergirl]

Nov 6, 2014 12:31:30 GMT @trig said:

Nov 4, 2014 15:58:36 GMT slumbergirl said:

Another incident Shelby writes about is noticing a strange young male walking in a deserted lot near one of the neighborhoods where a rape had occurred. Shelby makes a u-turn in his squad car in order to follow the strange male, but, by then, the male had disappeared. Shelby drives around the block and cuts back through the deserted lot. The male is there - walking - and does not react to the appearance of a squad car. Right at that moment, Shelby gets a call to help serve a search warrant on an EAR suspect, so he drives off without investigating the strange male. He says this particular male has always bothered him.

 

I was left with a few dangling questions after reading Shelby's book, and this was one of them.  EAR was already a notorious serial offender at this point, so why not just stop him?  I know that search warrants are time sensitive, but I don't understand why he couldn't just put the lights on and check this guy out.  If he runs, then you call in support; if he doesn't, make sure you're in a position to protect and respond to an attack. 

Another instance was blaming the dogs for not detecting anything in the dump truck trailer.  Maybe he wasn't there, but the dogs at least led them to the spot, why not inspect the most conspicuous hiding place at the end of the trail.

The other was the "pencil-neck" geek checking out the girl playing in the street.  He went by twice, so just act already.

Yes, Shelby has me also wishing he had stopped and checked out the lone male in the empty lot.  To me, the lack of reaction to the squad car is a red flag.  The normal reaction would be to stop and look quizzically at the squad car driving through the empty lot. 

However, if you are a criminal, the reaction to the squad car would be either "fight or flight".  This lone male chose to "fight" by continuing on his path, not displaying any fear and not making any eye contact with the officer in the car. 

Also, reading about various criminals - like the example of the East Coast Rapist above - I have noticed that they often have "close calls" with LE.  They generally choose the "try to ignore LE and keep wallking" technique - and it works!  So, it seems that LE should be on the lookout for the guy who is trying to ignore them in these situations.

[magnumforce73]

Nov 6, 2014 15:54:25 GMT slumbergirl said:

Nov 6, 2014 12:31:30 GMT @trig said:

I was left with a few dangling questions after reading Shelby's book, and this was one of them.  EAR was already a notorious serial offender at this point, so why not just stop him?  I know that search warrants are time sensitive, but I don't understand why he couldn't just put the lights on and check this guy out.  If he runs, then you call in support; if he doesn't, make sure you're in a position to protect and respond to an attack. 

Another instance was blaming the dogs for not detecting anything in the dump truck trailer.  Maybe he wasn't there, but the dogs at least led them to the spot, why not inspect the most conspicuous hiding place at the end of the trail.

The other was the "pencil-neck" geek checking out the girl playing in the street.  He went by twice, so just act already.

Yes, Shelby has me also wishing he had stopped and checked out the lone male in the empty lot.  To me, the lack of reaction to the squad car is a red flag.  The normal reaction would be to stop and look quizzically at the squad car driving through the empty lot. 

However, if you are a criminal, the reaction to the squad car would be either "fight or flight".  This lone male chose to "fight" by continuing on his path, not displaying any fear and not making any eye contact with the officer in the car. 

Also, reading about various criminals - like the example of the East Coast Rapist above - I have noticed that they often have "close calls" with LE.  They generally choose the "try to ignore LE and keep wallking" technique - and it works!  So, it seems that LE should be on the lookout for the guy who is trying to ignore them in these situations.

I'm sure he does as well.  In reading the book, it is very clear in a few places--in particular, in one incident I cited that took place sometime in November 1976 when Lt. Shelby spotted a suspicious person while en route to serve a warrant on a suspect S.C.S.D. investigators were certain was their offender--that Shelby deeply regrets not having stopped the suspect.  I don't have my copy in front of me, but I specifically remember Lt. Shelby writing that if he could do it over again he'd have radioed for backup from Sgt. Irwin and he'd have made field contact with the suspect.  He's very open and honest throughout his book--I admire that greatly.

SG, that too was a red flag--the suspect's calm and apparent lack of care that an officer was watching him.  More than that, in the incident I described, Lt. Shelby writes that the suspect met the physical description of EAR, but that he had ramrod posture and had military bearing about him.  This same description has been described by victims.  I believe Lt. Shelby had his second of three personal encounters with EAR when this happened.  He called it correctly: had he initiated a stop by himself, it was very likely that the suspect was EAR himself, and yes, EAR was ready to go down fighting.  The suspect's body language said everything: he was ready to fight.

We have no way of knowing it, and I can't prove it, but I can't help but feel that EAR's name is in a file somewhere--no one can be this prolific without having at least scraped the coattails of L.E. beating the streets.

mf73

[Brad]

Nov 6, 2014 17:53:26 GMT magnumforce73 said:

We have no way of knowing it, and I can't prove it, but I can't help but feel that EAR's name is in a file somewhere--no one can be this prolific without having at least scraped the coattails of L.E. beating the streets.

mf73

I would bet the farm on it.

[Deleted]

Nov 6, 2014 17:53:26 GMT magnumforce73 said:

Nov 6, 2014 15:54:25 GMT slumbergirl said:

Yes, Shelby has me also wishing he had stopped and checked out the lone male in the empty lot.  To me, the lack of reaction to the squad car is a red flag.  The normal reaction would be to stop and look quizzically at the squad car driving through the empty lot. 

However, if you are a criminal, the reaction to the squad car would be either "fight or flight".  This lone male chose to "fight" by continuing on his path, not displaying any fear and not making any eye contact with the officer in the car. 

Also, reading about various criminals - like the example of the East Coast Rapist above - I have noticed that they often have "close calls" with LE.  They generally choose the "try to ignore LE and keep wallking" technique - and it works!  So, it seems that LE should be on the lookout for the guy who is trying to ignore them in these situations.

I'm sure he does as well.  In reading the book, it is very clear in a few places--in particular, in one incident I cited that took place sometime in November 1976 when Lt. Shelby spotted a suspicious person while en route to serve a warrant on a suspect S.C.S.D. investigators were certain was their offender--that Shelby deeply regrets not having stopped the suspect.  I don't have my copy in front of me, but I specifically remember Lt. Shelby writing that if he could do it over again he'd have radioed for backup from Sgt. Irwin and he'd have made field contact with the suspect.  He's very open and honest throughout his book--I admire that greatly.

SG, that too was a red flag--the suspect's calm and apparent lack of care that an officer was watching him.  More than that, in the incident I described, Lt. Shelby writes that the suspect met the physical description of EAR, but that he had ramrod posture and had military bearing about him.  This same description has been described by victims.  I believe Lt. Shelby had his second of three personal encounters with EAR when this happened.  He called it correctly: had he initiated a stop by himself, it was very likely that the suspect was EAR himself, and yes, EAR was ready to go down fighting.  The suspect's body language said everything: he was ready to fight.

We have no way of knowing it, and I can't prove it, but I can't help but feel that EAR's name is in a file somewhere--no one can be this prolific without having at least scraped the coattails of L.E. beating the streets.

mf73

I think you and Slumber are talking about the same incident.  I too admired Shelby's owning of his mistake with this particular incident.  He said the only thing he could say for himself was that he was certain that the POI that they had the warrant for WAS the EAR but it turned out that this guy was cleared as the EAR, but the POI turned out to be a serial raper in San Diego if I am remembering correctly, please correct me if I am wrong.  

[magnumforce73]

Nov 7, 2014 0:10:54 GMT @sacfisherking said:

Nov 6, 2014 17:53:26 GMT magnumforce73 said:

I'm sure he does as well.  In reading the book, it is very clear in a few places--in particular, in one incident I cited that took place sometime in November 1976 when Lt. Shelby spotted a suspicious person while en route to serve a warrant on a suspect S.C.S.D. investigators were certain was their offender--that Shelby deeply regrets not having stopped the suspect.  I don't have my copy in front of me, but I specifically remember Lt. Shelby writing that if he could do it over again he'd have radioed for backup from Sgt. Irwin and he'd have made field contact with the suspect.  He's very open and honest throughout his book--I admire that greatly.

SG, that too was a red flag--the suspect's calm and apparent lack of care that an officer was watching him.  More than that, in the incident I described, Lt. Shelby writes that the suspect met the physical description of EAR, but that he had ramrod posture and had military bearing about him.  This same description has been described by victims.  I believe Lt. Shelby had his second of three personal encounters with EAR when this happened.  He called it correctly: had he initiated a stop by himself, it was very likely that the suspect was EAR himself, and yes, EAR was ready to go down fighting.  The suspect's body language said everything: he was ready to fight.

We have no way of knowing it, and I can't prove it, but I can't help but feel that EAR's name is in a file somewhere--no one can be this prolific without having at least scraped the coattails of L.E. beating the streets.

mf73

I think you and Slumber are talking about the same incident.  I too admired Shelby's owning of his mistake with this particular incident.  He said the only thing he could say for himself was that he was certain that the POI that they had the warrant for WAS the EAR but it turned out that this guy was cleared as the EAR, but the POI turned out to be a serial raper in San Diego if I am remembering correctly, please correct me if I am wrong.  

Sac, I think you're correct about that.

SG, I think Sac is right--we're talking about the same episode.

Sac, Lt. Shelby was serving the warrant on a suspect named "Art Pinkton."  Pinkton was arrested in Nevada County, California in 2008 "for the murder of one of his brothers...the deed was done with an arrow through the neck" (Shelby 64).  Lt. Shelby further states that Pinkton's DNA was collected after his arrest and, obviously, he didn't match EAR's DNA profile.  Back to the hunt...

mf73

[4ws]

Nov 6, 2014 17:59:46 GMT Brad said:

Nov 6, 2014 17:53:26 GMT magnumforce73 said:

We have no way of knowing it, and I can't prove it, but I can't help but feel that EAR's name is in a file somewhere--no one can be this prolific without having at least scraped the coattails of L.E. beating the streets.

mf73

I would bet the farm on it.

We've discussed this before in other threads, but I just want to second Brad's opinion. They talked to this guy sometime and I don't believe for a second that this guy was not known by LE somewhere. This behavior doesn't come from nowhere, especially considering how brazen he is at what appears to be a younger age.

[4ws]

And just a quick post script as I make my way through Shelby's book: THIS GUY WAS EXTREMELY LUCKY!

[magnumforce73]

Nov 1, 2014 19:02:01 GMT @sacfisherking said:

Oct 31, 2014 23:55:37 GMT slumbergirl said:

Has anyone noticed that Shelby says a Diamond Knot was used in the October 5, 1976 EAR attack on "Jan" (ST calls her "Francis Woods", but it is Jane Carson-Sandler) in Citrus Heights?

Absolutely did. I wanted to post about it but thought it better for other members to read the book first then more people can discuss it. There is a lot of new info in Shelby's book this being a good example of it. Thanks Slumber for posting I wonder what others are thinking about it?

That diamond knot is something he most likely learned from his father or some male figure in his life.  I use them myself whenever I make keyring lanyards out of paracord.  The knot itself is intricate and ornate, but with practice and a discerning of the weave pattern, it's not as complex as it seems.  Really, the hard part is teaching your fingers how to manipulate a fluid object and how to weave a pattern out of nothing while struggling to keep control of the item--because like a sphere, the rope wants to roll every which way.

I've always found the diamond knot fascinating not just because he used it ritually--I'm talking specifically about Ventura in March 1980--but because with that skill, it takes a great deal of practice not only to discern the pattern and weave it smoothly, but to really work the rope or cord item you're using your fingers learn to become more dexterous; they learn how to eye the thread of tiny slots because the rope constantly wants to fight the fingers.  It's no different from learning to play guitar for the first time--your fingers have to get used to the fretboard, to the outline and curvature of the neck, the fingertips on how to properly press down on the strings, how to hammer-on or pull-off on the strings, etc.  They have to get used to a certain kind of motion--it's an intricate knot, so it requires smart hands to weave it deftly and skillfully--especially when wearing gloves, having to do it in zero or low-light levels, and under the extreme stress of having not one victim to control, but two.  That means a ton of practice.  He's lower than snail *, but I give credit where it's due: that's not just luck, that's also a bit of skill and experience.  I believe with his O.C.D. compulsion that he'd be the type to constantly weave and unwrap and rinse & repeat this knot--as in he could be watching television or waiting for his laundry to finish and he'd be right there tying the diamond knot, then untying it again in a perpetual loop a la Groundhog Day.  He probably always kept a pair of shoelaces or the twine he favored in Goleta in the back pocket of his cord pants.  Lt. Shelby himself makes a note as follows: "As Det. Pool found out, it takes a lot of practice to make one of those knots.  Who[m]ever made these knots has undoubtedly shown off his skills on more than one occasion" (Shelby 403).  This is an interesting comment because I think Lt. Shelby is spot on: while this offender doesn't seem to have the kind of personality that would enable him to succeed in anything team-oriented, he does want to be noticed and he does want attention whether it be from the police or from the public--because he wants to instill terror into everyone.  He might not teach classes in macrame (Hell! maybe he really does, who knows?!) but he does have the kind of arrogant personality that would have to--however subtle it might be--show off this particular skill because one thing's certain: there is no way this jerk can knot a quick diamond out of a length of shoelace without being transported back to 5 October 1976 or 13 March 1980.  It's too meaningful to him--it's all part of the process, the ritual.  Even sicker, the idea of him weaving this little diamond knot while sitting on his couch with family has to provide him with immense pleasure because he can tie this knot while hearing the wife and kids arguing over whether or not they want Stove Top or Hamburger Helper to go along with the roast just out of the oven all while being transported back to his glory days when he'd slither into people's homes and introduce his script and his "slick wick" as Lt. Shelby likes to call it.

Lt. Shelby, if you happen to pop by here, if you ever read this: You, sir, scored with this book.  I appreciate your honesty and your no-nonsense recounting of things--and especially that you didn't dilute the content with political correctness.  You had a story to tell, and you told it well--and compellingly.  Job well done, Lieutenant.    

I will wager that if he is alive today he's still looping quick little diamond knots out of scrap shoestring or whatever is handiest.  Even knotting a specific knot enables him to go back to those horrific moments.

mf73

[V]

I'd love to read this, sadly my book budget is empty at the moment. I'll have to set a reminder next time I'm paid. lol

[ice]

Nov 8, 2014 2:28:00 GMT V said:

I'd love to read this, sadly my book budget is empty at the moment. I'll have to set a reminder next time I'm paid. lol

Buy it from Kindle. Cost me just €4.92! Am really enjoying the read...

[V]

Nov 8, 2014 11:42:28 GMT ice said:

Nov 8, 2014 2:28:00 GMT V said:

I'd love to read this, sadly my book budget is empty at the moment. I'll have to set a reminder next time I'm paid. lol

Buy it from Kindle. Cost me just €4.92! Am really enjoying the read...

Yea, that's what I'm planning on doing. Probably monday. 

[Deleted]

Nov 8, 2014 19:12:41 GMT woofytreats said:

I just read the book in two sittings and really enjoyed it. It's definitely opinionated ( in a good way ) and it struck me overall as a variation of Sudden Terror but with more personal insight and certain bits that are portrayed by Shelby differently than in Sudden Terror. Ex. the different descriptions of the San Ramon "trap house" that was set up and Shelby's comments on why that wasn't approached correctly by the Contra Costa County authorities. Like many here, I learned more than a couple things in reading it ( not to mention the sections on updated POIs ) and I can easily say that if you have an interest in this case, it's well worth the $5.99 USD on Kindle.

One of the big differences I remembered was the account of the victim who told EAR how "good" he was, and in Sudden Terror, EAR sort of got off is game, but in Shelby's book he didn't buy it for a minute.  I wonder how accounts could be so different